Who Are Our Heroes?

I received this story in an email (thanks, Gordie and Sue). It tells the story of Irena Sendler and, unlike most emails, actually lists its sources.

There recently was the death of a 98-year-old lady named Irena Sendler. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an ulterior motive...

She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of her tool box she carried, and she also carried in the back of her truck a Burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.

During her time and course of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs and arms and beat her severely.

Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it, and reunited the family. Most, of course, had been gassed. Those kids she helped were placed into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize....

She LOST.

Al Gore won for doing a slide show on Global Warming. Irena Sendler passed away 12 May 2008. She was 98.

Sources:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/sendler.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler
http://www.irenasendler.org/